by A. C. Cobble
Over Amelie’s shoulder, Ben saw Mathias give him a nod. Last night was just the beginning. If they were going to make Whitehall, they needed to be mentally prepared. The mages, the most powerful force on Alcott, wanted them dead. Nothing about this was going to be easy.
Twilight fell and they felt confident enough to venture out to the edge of the thicket. Nothing was there besides open grass and flower gardens in the distance, just like they’d seen at other estates the night before.
With no one in sight, they risked speaking.
“I hate to say it, but I’m not sure this is going to work,” started Mathias. “There’s too much risk. If one place had them, then other estates might also have dogs. We stirred them up last night, so it’s possible there could be guards on patrol as well. If they’re on alert, then they’ll see us. There is no cover through here.”
Amelie frowned. “What do you suggest? We sank the boat before we left Reinhold’s. Even if we stole a boat, they’ll be watching that way. It’s crazy to try the river. The road is even worse, it’s wide open.”
“East,” answered Mathias. “We cross the road and head east away from the river.”
“There are mountains to the east and not much else,” complained Ben. “That’s rough going. It will slow us down. We’d make a third of the distance each night. We’d have nowhere to get food and supplies.”
Mathias cracked his knuckles. “You are right. It will be tough going, and we may run short of food, but we can’t stop for food and supplies anyway. The road and river aren’t worth considering, and the estates are too dangerous, so what else does that leave us? If we get in the mountains, there is no way the Sanctuary can cover all routes. We can come back to the river at Kirksbane and figure out a way to go through the Sineook Valley. It’s the only thing I think may work.”
Ben and Amelie contemplated silently. Neither liked the idea of going into the mountains, but Mathias was right. Starvation was a possibility, but the mountains gave them a chance.
They waited until nightfall then started moving again.
Exiting the estate was nerve wracking. After the night before, they proceeded cautiously. They imagined a legion of guards over every hill. Each bird call or insect noise brought back memories of the howling dogs.
Whether it was luck or not, they made it to the exterior wall of the grounds with no encounters. The wall followed the north road that started in the City and extended through all of the grand estates. West of the road was the river and the lord’s palaces. East of the road was also property of the lords, but it was rougher. It was typically used for hunting or vineyards, whatever passion the lord tasked his servants with pursuing.
At the wall, Ben grimaced at a twinge of pain in his arm but fought through it to pull himself to the top. He peeked his head over. The well-maintained road extended both ways in the moonlight. Across the empty road, a similar wall passed north and south as far as he could see.
“Looks clear,” he called down to his companions, and then rolled over the top. The cut on his side tugged. He worried it broke open again. Luckily, there were no glass shards sticking out along the top of this wall.
He realized he probably should have checked that before rolling on it.
Cursing himself, he clambered down the other side. Amelie and Mathias followed behind him.
They crossed the road without seeing a soul, quickly scaled the opposite wall, and dropped down behind it. Rows and rows of grape vines climbed away from the wall, up a hill, and out of sight in the pale moonlight.
Bell after bell, they hiked through narrow dirt rows, ripe grapes hanging on either side. Ben limped along on his tender ankle, but the pace they set was slower than the previous night. They were still eager to get distance between them and the City, but the chances of being spotted in the vineyard were low. They risked quiet conversation as they walked.
“Do you think they’ll try to find us?” asked Ben. “Saala, Rhys, Renfro…our friends.”
“I don’t know,” answered Amelie. “Saala would try to find us if he could. He’s loyal to me and my family, but what will the Sanctuary tell him? If he thinks we’re dead, he’ll have no reason to look. Renfro, I don’t think he’ll come looking. As for Rhys, well, Rhys is one of them, isn’t he? I know he doesn’t always agree with what they are doing, but he’s part of the Sanctuary.”
“No,” growled Mathias, shaking his head. “He is not part of them. He has no loyalty to that place. I can’t say Rhys has always been a good man, but he is loyal man, to his friends at least. He’ll leave the Sanctuary and not look back. If he has reason to suspect we’re alive, that is, and if he knows where to look for us.”
“You’ve known him a long time, haven’t you?” asked Ben, brushing a fragrant grape vine out of his way as they walked.
“Many, many years,” affirmed Mathias. “We served together when I was a greenhorn recruit and fresh off the farm. We were part of an expeditionary force up north. He took me under his wing and taught me just about everything I know about fighting and staying alive. It’s rough and dangerous country up there. Half of us didn’t make it back from that first expedition. I owe him my life more times than I can count.”
“How is that possible?” wondered Ben. “Rhys is at least ten years your junior, isn’t he? He looks like it at least. Is there some secret to youth in all of that ale?”
Mathias smirked. “Rhys looks the same age today as he did back then.”
“He’s a long-lived!” exclaimed Amelie.
Ben blinked in confusion. Long-lived were a myth.
“Aye, that he is,” answered Mathias. “He doesn’t like to talk about it much, and he’s never told me everything, but he’s been around a long, long time.”
“What does that mean?” queried Ben, curiosity fighting through disbelief. “I thought the long-lived was just a story. Is it magic? Is he some sort of creature?”
“Not exactly magic,” replied Amelie. “From what I understand, the long-lived start out as normal people, just like you and me, but over time, they have gained expertise and achieve a level of control that is beyond us—control over themselves, control over their surroundings. That control, it allows them to regulate their bodies in ways that begin to seem like magic. It takes enormous will, certainly, and that is a lot like magic. The long-lived can arrest the natural aging process. I don’t understand how it’s done exactly, but mastery in a skill is the key.”
“That sounds right with what I’ve heard,” agreed Mathias. “It’s typically something like mastering the blade or, of course, actual magic.”
“Of course.” Amelie nodded. “The most famous long-lived, and one of the few who is public about it, is the Veil. The current Veil has been ruling the Sanctuary for three hundred years.”
Ben stopped walking. “Three hundred years! She has been alive for three hundred years?”
Amelie paused beside him. “Longer than that, I would think. That’s as long as she’s had the job. Getting the necessary respect of the other mages must have taken at least that long, if not longer. Her age is something the Sanctuary uses to show their power, but they don’t exactly share the details.”
Ben looked to Mathias. “How old is Rhys, then?”
Mathias shrugged. “He never told me. Come on. Let’s keep moving. They don’t have the dogs on us tonight, but I’d like to make it out of these vines before daybreak when the workers start showing up.”
“Wait,” urged Ben, starting after Mathias. “The control—how is it achieved?”
Mathias grinned and rubbed a hand over his bald head. “I haven’t figured that out yet. I’ll let you know when I do.”
They shuffled along silently after that, everyone lost in their own thoughts.
Long-lived. Not only did they exist, but Ben knew one. The world was a strange place.
A bell before daybreak, they made it to the edge of the vineyard. There was no wall there, just an unceremonious end to the vines and the start of a forest. It w
asn’t the pine forest Ben was used to from home, but it felt good to walk into the concealment of the trees and out of the open vineyard.
“What do you think?” asked Mathias, huffing and puffing with his hands on his hips. “Travel another half bell then rest? In here, I think it’s safer to move during the day.” He gestured to the leaf cover above that was blocking the moonlight. “Without light, we’ll be tripping over every unseen branch and rock. It’ll make a racket and one of us could break a leg.”
Ben and Amelie shared a look then shrugged.
“Makes sense to me,” replied Ben.
They rested late into the morning and spent two more days gaining elevation and putting distance between them and the City. There were no signs of other people and they began to feel comfortable. On the third day, they sat around a cold camp, getting ready for another hard day of travel. Their pace in the forest wasn’t quick. It had been uphill the entire way.
“Should we break for a day and restock our supplies?” suggested Ben. “Hunt, fish, and gather what we can?”
“Aye, I think we should,” answered Mathias. “We have maybe two days left of what you got from Reinhold’s pantry. While I’d like to keep moving, it won’t do us any good if we run out of food.”
“If we stop,” added Amelie, “I’d like to practice.”
“Practice?” inquired Ben.
“The sword,” she replied. “Hopefully we get through this with stealth and speed, but if we don’t, I need to learn to defend myself.”
“Why not,” agreed Mathias. “I could use a bit of practice myself. I got rusty tending bar the last several years,” he finished with a grin.
Amelie smiled. “You two help me with the sword, and I’ll teach you a few things I learned at the Sanctuary that might come in handy if we meet a mage.”
Ben’s eyes lit up. “You can teach us to fight with magic?”
She snorted. “I can’t teach you to fight with magic, but there are things I learned that can negate someone else’s magic, at least when it comes to affecting you. As you know, it’s all about willpower. If someone tries to impose their will on you, it’s possible to resist that with your own will.”
“Did they teach you to fight at all?” asked Ben. He was thinking the lightning bolts that Lady Towaal called in Snowmar could come in handy.
“No, unfortunately they don’t teach that to initiates,” she answered. “That’s too much power too soon. It’s dangerous to learn that kind of talent. They teach us defense only, in case we were to encounter another mage. Someone who learned on their own or outside of Alcott, I suppose. If we get into a mage fight, our best bet is to run.”
“Too bad,” muttered Ben.
“Actually, there is one advantage we have.” Amelie pulled a small carved wooden disk from a pocket in her dress. “This.”
Ben remembered seeing the disc before. Amelie had taken it from the glass building they fought Eldred in. “What is that?” he asked.
“It’s a repository,” she explained. “It’s infused with energy. It takes weeks for a skilled Mage to create one, constantly drawing energy from the air or their body and transferring it into the disc. The energy is captured in these runes you see inscribed along the edge. I knew it was there because our instructor was demonstrating its use the previous day. She used it to draw energy off of the living plants in the laboratory then applied it back into them. It’s not full, but she showed us how to charge it. It’s not difficult. I think once I establish the link, I can do it while we walk.”
“Is it a weapon?” Ben asked, fascinated.
“Not exactly,” answered Amelie. “They are used to cast great spells more powerful than the mage or the environment could support. It can be any spell, really. So it may be helpful because I am not very strong. When it’s used properly, the mage channels the extra energy into whatever they are trying to do. When used improperly, the energy could be released explosively.”
“Explosively?” wondered Ben.
“That means run.”
***
The day passed quickly but productively. Right after breakfast, Ben set a couple of small game snares and managed to catch a rabbit by afternoon. He also collected a pouch full of nuts and a few other things to supplement their supplies. The rabbit was lean and gamey, and the nuts carried a slightly bitter taste, but they would need both if they wanted to keep up their energy during the hike.
After Ben showed Mathias and Amelie how to set the traps, they spent the afternoon practicing the sword. Ben didn’t participate. He wanted to take the opportunity to rest his sprained ankle. Mathias proved a capable teacher for Amelie, though.
They didn’t have the proper sparring equipment they used back in the City, so they practiced with their real blades. It was a careful and slow dance. Practice was best when it seemed realistic, but none of them wanted to risk an injury.
They had Ben’s Venmoor steel longsword, a sturdy, well-used broadsword Mathias brought, and a curved saber Amelie had pulled off the wall in one of Reinhold’s office rooms. It wasn’t the best quality, which is likely why it was overlooked, but it was better than nothing.
Mathias was a steady and efficient fighter. He didn’t have near the grace of Saala, or even what Ben was starting to achieve, but unlike many swordsmen, he stayed away from the flourishes and complicated sequences that were common in sparring. It left him with short and economical strokes. He got the job done with minimal wasted effort.
Amelie showed a great deal of improvement from when she first started training with Saala. She was still nowhere near the skill of Ben or even Mathias. She kept at it though with a determined look on her face.
After a bell of sparring, both Mathias and Amelie were exhausted.
“It’s been a few years,” huffed Mathias.
Amelie nodded breathlessly. “Not a few years for me, but this is more tiring than sitting bell after bell in a lecture hall hearing about vegetal growth patterns.” She paused. “Actually, maybe it’s not more tiring than that.”
Ben chuckled. “Don’t go too hard. It’s the first day and we have a lot of travel to do. It won’t do any good if you’re so tired you can’t hike. Maybe we can try doing the Ohms. That’s not as strenuous.”
They started at the beginning and Ben instructed Mathias and Amelie how to move through the forms. Amelie had seen them before when they were on the road going to the City, but she hadn’t practiced them since then. She quickly caught up and before long was cycling through the first set of movements.
Mathias struggled with the challenging flexibility positions. At one point, he glanced over at Amelie who was twisting around with no difficultly and he muttered under his breath, “Nice to be young.”
“You’ll get there,” encouraged Ben. “It will just take some more work, that’s all.”
“I don’t think so,” grumbled Mathias in response. “Some things are lost in time. Me bending down and touching my toes is one of them.”
He straightened up and stretched, cracking his back and joints in the process. “It does feel good though. Even if I can’t do it like you kids, I can get better. You can always get a little better.”
The next morning, they started early and well rested. For three days, they hadn’t seen any signs of pursuit. Now they were well off the established roads and pathways. They knew the Sanctuary had soldiers and likely hunters searching for them, but this far away, they were gaining confidence that it was possible they could get out of the mages’ noose.
The terrain grew difficult throughout the day as they progressed deeper into the foothills of the mountains. Rocky outcroppings began to appear and they decided they would turn north after stopping that evening. Gaining elevation put them further from civilization and reduced the chance of running into someone, but if they went too far, they would lose some of the plant cover. The trees were already noticeably smaller and the undergrowth was thinning out.
“Just like home?” Amelie asked Ben.
“No, not quite,” he responded. “It’s pine forest back home. These are sycamore, beech, and maple. Farview is a little higher up too, so the air is different.”
Looking around, he added, “The pine is also evergreen. Before long, these trees will start to lose their leaves. By the end of this month, the color of the leaves will change. In two months, it will be nothing but bare branches.”
“You know a lot about trees,” Amelie said with a grin.
“I come from a family of wood cutters.” Ben smirked. “Everyone knows about something.”
That evening, they made camp and started a fire. They had been keeping cold camps, but they figured they were far enough from civilization it was safe now. It was autumn, and this deep in the mountains, the night air was brisk. Ben was glad of the cloak he’d found at Reinhold’s estate. He pulled it close and huddled near the fire.
Mathias had dinner duty that evening, which both Ben and Amelie appreciated. The former soldier and tavern owner was easily the most skilled at mixing the motley supplies they’d brought and coming up with something resembling a decent meal.
Mopping up a hearty stew with a crust of hard bread, Ben had to ask, “Mathias, this is delicious. How did you learn to cook like this?”
“Years of practice and experimenting,” the gruff veteran answered with a smile. “Soldiering is mostly about sitting around and waiting. Occasionally, there is some marching. Very rarely, there is a fight. It feels like you are almost always waiting. You’ve got to find something to do or you’ll go mad. Some take up wood carving. Some learn an instrument. I cooked. I realized early on that the most popular man in the camp is the one who can make dinner. Unless of course,” he continued with a yawn, “you’ve got a man who can brew ale. You brew good ale, and someone will always watch your back. A good brewer has more protection on a battlefield than the lord does.”
“Glad to know I’ll be welcomed then.” Ben smirked.
“Aye. If you ever join an army, make sure they know what you can do.” Another yawn and a stretch. “I think it’s time for me to get some shut eye,” mumbled the veteran.